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impact on healthcare, the people outside of my family, financial burdens, long term consequences...to name a few. also ineffective prevention strategies and why core messages haven't been delivered/received. stuff...

every single family member that my mother has lived with after her teenage years from our family is positive. they are also the only people we know to be positive in my family. her favorite niece, her only son, and her closest sister.

i came out to my aunt and our relationship has improved. i have not told my cousin. i remember feeling sad for her when i first found out (about a year or so before i became positive) and wondered how she would raise her children. then i became positive and now know how naive and stupid i was. i also remember my mother commenting on the lifestyles of my aunt and my niece. my mother's views has since changed as well.

every single family member that my mother has lived with after her teenage years from our family is positive. they are also the only people we know to be positive in my family. her favorite niece, her only son, and her closest sister.

i came out to my aunt and our relationship has improved. i have not told my cousin. i remember feeling sad for her when i first found out (about a year or so before i became positive) and wondered how she would raise her children. then i became positive and now know how naive and stupid i was. i also remember my mother commenting on the lifestyles of my aunt and my niece. my mother's views has since changed as well.

best, d

I'm not black, so it feels wrong to speculate on what it must be like to watch your entire family devastated by the virus, but I think this topic deserves attention. What do you think could help fix the situation? How do you think public health efforts should change?

i think it is certainly a human experience and your comments are welcome

i'm not sure. i think it is a complex problem that has intersectional issues. i think reps from our local communities need to be more involved...church members/leaders, scientists, teachers etc. not to just destigmatize the disease but also to promote testing, med adherence and safe sex. i think some of the tactics used by other communities definitely has a place. they just may need to be tweeked to have a better fit in some areas.

im one for needle exchange programs, condom access and regionalized programs...like that makes sense right? i'm sure that the msms that ive encountered aren't ready to come out but i don't believe they are the root of the problem. the blame shit definitely needs to take a back seat while new strategies are discussed (and data needs to be included with these strategies).

the intersectionality has more to do with education, socioeconomic status, sexuality and other variables that come in to play and how they are dealt with in the african american community. and the fact that we have sex with others who aren't black on a regular basis needs to be incorporated. issues of shame and other more sensitive topics would have to be addressed as well.

i'd take it back to the regions and intersectionality. like any community, we are very diverse but have some generalities that affiliate us. i think the conversations should happen at a local level, that way the issues most important to those communities are adequately addressed by the people experiencing hiv in those communities. maybe this info could be reported back to an overarching umbrella thing that is flexible enough to allow for regional and other differences yet still committed to reducing hiv rates in the african american and overall population.

and, even more so, i think women should be given a safe space to dialogue and come up with prevention strategies along with ways to destigmatize and support each other.

these are just some thoughts, they are not complete and in no way represent the feelings of one of the communities i am honored to belong too : ).

I know I might get flack for this, but I think the whole Down Low culture might have something to do with this. And the homophobia of many Black churches. We've got essentially gay African American men marrying women, going around barebacking with other men, then taking the virus home to their wives. I'm not saying this sort of behavior is limited to the African American community, but the DL culture seems to be high in it.

this isn't really news in SC where 73% of all those who have tested positive for HIV are blackHIV has never been much of a "gay" disease here where 33% is through hetero-transmission;but it is a disease more related to poverty and lack of education

Logged

leatherman (aka mIkIE)

All the stars are flashing high above the seaand the party is on fire around you and meWe're gonna burn this disco down before the morning comes- Pet Shop Boys chart from 1992-2015Isentress/Prezcobix

My brother's partner is half black/half Filipino--although he acts like the whitest person you'll ever meet. Anyway, his uncle was full black and lived in D.C. He was married to a woman, but lived on the DL and had sex with men. I last saw him in 2007 when we went to D.C. for the 4th of July. We all knew he had HIV and everyone knew he was on the DL. His wife knew. He seemed fine to me when I saw him. He would be dead from AIDS complications within the year. This was before I knew my status. If I had known, I would probably have engaged him about HIV. Not knowing I also had the virus, I didn't know how to strike up that conversation.

This brings up the other thing about many people living on the DL. I later found out he was not treating his HIV. I was very sad to hear he had died. He was so nice. He had so many hotel credits that he got us a very nice hotel in D.C. for free. I later wondered whether he knew he wouldn't be around to use all those free hotel stays. When I ask the family about the whole situation, no one can give you answers. I'm sure he didn't talk about his HIV and health, but it is like they didn't want to know either. It is like they were totally in denial. I asked exactly what it was that killed him. No one seems to be able to answer that question. It is very strange. I think there is this denial in the black community about him being gay first of all, and having AIDS. I'm sure this exists in all races, but seems more pronounced in the black community. I actually got upset that no one knows whether he had PCP, kidney failure, etc.

This made the 2nd person I got to know who died from AIDS. The first being a family friend in 1992 who I saw in really bad shape. These 2 men have had a profound impact on me. I wish I could have talked to him. If he didn't want to take meds, then I'm sure I couldn't change his mind. I just think if this was happening now with all I know about myself and HIV (which is still lacking), I would try to talk to him. His phone number is still saved in my phone. I've not deleted it. I look at it as a reminder. He was obviously in denial himself. So sad.

I would think HIV infection has less to do with "down low" (I hate that euphemism) and more to do with people having sex without condoms.

it all goes to making the "us vs. them" philosophy. If HIV only spreads amongst those "bad" groups (the gays, IV drug users, etc) then it's not a problem the general public needs to worry about and they can feel sanctimonious, feeling "sorry" for us sad (and "bad") people who are infected.

Except HIV has gained a foothold in the black population and is spreading (33% in SC) through heterosexual sex (with no M2M, bi, "down low", or IV risk factors). The only risk factor is unprotected sex. There are more and more ad/education campaigns now beginning to focus on this issue and this segment of the population; but will it help in time? Here is SC, the greaterthan campaign (we > hiv) is the most visible anti-HIV campaign in my area, and it's geared towards reaching the black population. Will the people in the black population be able to overcome those basic stereotypes (be able to get passed the "DL" connection, or the fallacy that it's a "gay" or IV drug user disease) in time to halt the spread before 50% of black American is infected? Without a crystal ball, there's no way to know, and for now we'll have to wait and see if education/prevention methods can put the brakes on another rising statistic.

Logged

leatherman (aka mIkIE)

All the stars are flashing high above the seaand the party is on fire around you and meWe're gonna burn this disco down before the morning comes- Pet Shop Boys chart from 1992-2015Isentress/Prezcobix

Granny60

it all goes to making the "us vs. them" philosophy. If HIV only spreads amongst those "bad" groups (the gays, IV drug users, etc) then it's not a problem the general public needs to worry about and they can feel sanctimonious, feeling "sorry" for us sad (and "bad") people who are infected.

Well said Leatherman! This is exactly the perverse way of thinking my doctors used back when I went through 11 doctors who never tested me for HIV and just kept saying to me that you have to have cancer, but we just can't find it. Why can't these head in the sand types just own up to the fact that if you are human, you should be tested instead of relying on risk factors and stereotypes?